In the early morning hours of July 19, 1998, a resident of the El Moro apartments in Portland, Oregon, made a grim discovery. Lying on the ground outside the complex was the body of 27-year-old Ausencio Genchi Garcia, a Hispanic male. Police responded to multiple 911 calls from the location at 2016 SE 122nd Ave around 2:30 a.m. An autopsy would later confirm that Garcia had died from gunshot wounds.
Garcia, who worked at a vegetable company in Portland, was attending a party at the
apartment complex that evening. He was not known to be violent and did not have a criminal record. In the hours leading up to the shooting, a tense confrontation had nearly erupted at the El Moro apartments between a large group of Hispanic individuals and several African American males. Investigators believe Garcia was a random victim in the ensuing violence. For years, his case remained unsolved, one of Portland's cold cases, with authorities periodically appealing to the public for any information that might lead to an arrest.
Two decades later, a major breakthrough brought renewed hope for justice. In November 2019, federal authorities announced a sweeping racketeering indictment against members of the Hoover Criminal Gang. Among those charged was Lorenzo Laron Jones, then 46, a senior member of the gang. The indictment accused Jones of a 30-year pattern of violent criminal activity, including the murder of Ausencio Genchi Garcia. According to the charges, the acts of violence were carried out to maintain and elevate his status within the criminal organization. Jones was charged with racketeering conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, and causing death through the use of a firearm, facing a potential sentence of life in prison or the death penalty.
